Seeing an image like this of pristine cards all nicely preserved inside protectors makes me want to make more well-worn cards. A baseball card with sharp corners is so institutional. “CAREFUL! Don’t set that card on the table, you might nudge the corner.” Baseball cards are meant to be worn.
I’m making a fine art of wearing down baseball cards. Here’s a 1991 Donruss Jeff Treadwell.
More coming about how I wore down this card.
You mean it’s new “well-worn” state. Not it’s new state out of the pack of cards.
That Jeff Treadwell card is far more interesting in its new state.
Hmm. I appreciate your innovative thinking. However a roughed up card is one that is done by a person. I don’t know about this machine business where there is a lack of a human touch. Although I suppose people do buy jeans that have been distressed by machines. So maybe you have something there.
I’m also thinking about writing a blog post about… oh crap. what was it.
Oh I remember now. That seriously took me about an hour to remember. Thankfully this commente didn’t disappear from the comment box. In the past couple years, Instagram got its huge push in the online photo world because of its filters that make images look older and worn. There is a mentality in people that they want something that is authentic and real. They want something that feels tangible. People specifically use these filters on their photos to make them look more worn.
It’s fascinating when you compare this with baseball cards. People want baseball cards pristine. You would think the same would hold true wi
In the past 15 years the baseball card industry has gone bonkers trying to come up with more and more gimmicky cards (bat slices in cards, shiny hologram patterns, etc.) If they really want to shake things up they should introduce a series similar to your altered Treadwell card. They don’t necessarily need to put the cards through a “roughing-up” machine. Just make a few different dies that cut the cards to “torn” sizes like your treadwell. They could printed scuffed up marks. I like that idea of representing aged cards by means of the printing process.